Group Leader Information

Thank you for choosing Mount Olivet Conference & Retreat Center for your upcoming retreat. As you make plans for your group’s stay, please review our facilities information and service details below. We look forward to welcoming and hosting you soon.

Meeting Spaces

Our meeting rooms offer flexibility in setup and customization of each space. Before your retreat, please let us know how to arrange your meeting room. Common arrangements include tables and chairs in a u-shape, classroom style, hollow square set-up, and chairs only in a circle or theater style.

We have free high-speed Wi-Fi throughout our campus. The password is available at check-in.

A/V and conferencing equipment is provided at no extra charge, including TVs/Blue Ray, LCD projectors and screens, microphones, VCRs as well as flipcharts, dry erase boards, and lecterns for your presentation needs. As you plan your retreat, please communicate your presentation needs to our staff.

A number of common areas, both indoor and outdoor, are available for small group sessions, casual conversations, and spur of the moment meet-ups without formal reservation. If your retreat needs additional private meeting space, please contact our staff prior to your visit to confirm availability.

Lodging

When booking your overnight retreat, you will register for hotel-style rooms, dorm rooms, or a combination of both. Please communicate these details, including room capacities, to group members.

The Cornell House hotel-style rooms include two full-sized beds. Group leaders may choose to fill the hotel-style rooms as single or double occupancy. Single occupancy means one person per hotel-style room. Double occupancy means two people per hotel-style room (one bed for each person). Families with children may sleep up to two adults and two children in a hotel-style room. Dorm rooms sleep eight people in four single beds and two sets of bunk beds. These rooms can accommodate nine people with the addition of a roll-away bed.

Overnight room check-in time is 3pm on the day of your arrival and check-out time is 10am on the day of your departure. Please strip your bed and prop your room door open when you leave. Keys should be turned in at the front desk in the Youngdahl Lodge.

Group leaders are expected to fill out a room assignments document and return it tour staff no later than 10 days in advance of your stay.

Dining

Meals are served in the Trillium Dining Room on the main floor of the Youngdahl Lodge at the following times (unless other arrangements have been made in advance): 8am Breakfast, 12pm Lunch, and 6pm Dinner. Groups eat meals together while sharing the space of our large dining room with other guests.

Our kitchen can accommodate special dietary requests, such as gluten-free, lactose-free, nut-free, vegetarian, and vegan, with advance notice. Communicate any special diet needs for your group members to our staff at least two weeks prior to your visit.  Please note that we do not maintain a gluten-free, lactose-free, or nut-free kitchen environment.

Breaks are scheduled at your leisure. Our beverage and snack bar, located in the dining room, is available to guests 24/7 and features fresh coffee, a selection of teas, lemonade, fruit, yogurt, trail mix, and other snack items.

Reserving Amenities

Recreation amenities including the pool, whirlpool, sauna, and campfire need to be reserved at least two weeks prior to a group’s arrival. Please contact our staff for available times and scheduling for your group’s usage.

The Chapel’s main sanctuary offers space for both worship and private reflection. Our prayer chapel in the lower level of the Youngdahl Lodge is available for personal meditation. Communion is available upon request. Please contact our staff and share your worship needs at least two weeks prior to your stay.

Safety

During your stay, please keep in mind that we are a multi-group host site. Frequently, there will be other groups on site during your stay. Guest safety is our highest priority and respect and courtesy toward other groups is expected.

Please follow these guidelines:

• Supervise children on-site at all times.
• Walk and speak softly in the overnight accommodations building.
• Use the stairs when possible so others who need the elevators have access to them.
• Bus your dishes and push in dining chairs after your meals.
• Maintain quiet hours in the overnight building from 10pm-midnight. After midnight, lights should be out, music off, and silence kept.
• Do not move the bunk beds in the dorm rooms.
• One adult should chaperone children and youth in the pool at all times.
• Shower before entering the pool and use proper bathing suits.
• Limit the amount of people in the whirlpool to four at one time.
• All groups and individuals using the Retreat Center will be liable for any damage incurred during their stay.

All of our buildings are handicap accessible and have automatic front doors. Elevators are located in both multi-level buildings. All guest room door handles are lever style. Handicapped bathroom stalls exist in all public bathrooms. Our lodging room 301 is ADA-compliant.

Mount Olivet Conference & Retreat Center allows limited use of alcoholic beverages on-site when it is programmatically relevant for a group and when doing so will not adversely impact other groups on-site at the same time. Requests for use of alcoholic beverages should be made at the time of booking a retreat.

For after hours emergency calls, you can use our on-call number: 952-201-1663.